Some 25 million Ethiopians are able to vote in the 15 May parliamentary and regional assembly elections. MPs then choose a prime minister. Election xaal qaado, what kind of election is when over 5 million of people, the third majority ethinic, second largest autonomy in the country are not allowed to vote? :eek: :eek: waa yaab! anyhow.. Hornka, lately the relation b/n Amxaro and the yankees is at its lowest point for many reasons. That is why they (Ethiopian MP) are the first to support the new Chanise anti secession law, which upset the uncle sam. Read what WSJ wrote on 3/29/05 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By KARBY LEGGETT ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Mar 29, 2005 -- When this east African country went to war against neighboring Eritrea in the late 1990s, the U.S. responded by evacuating its Peace Corps volunteers, scaling back military aid and issuing a security warning to U.S. citizens and companies. The Chinese government had a different reaction. Beijing saw the war -- and the reduced U.S. presence -- as an opportunity to expand its influence. It dispatched even more diplomats, engineers, businessmen and teachers to Ethiopia. New aid grants soon rolled in, followed by bank credits for Chinese companies operating there. Today, China's influence in Ethiopia is overwhelming. Its embassy is among the largest in the country and hosts more high-level visits than any Western mission. Chinese companies have become a dominant force, building highways and bridges, power stations, mobile-phone networks, schools and pharmaceutical plants. More recently, they have begun exploring for oil and building at least one Ethiopian military installation. It's all part of Beijing's broad push into Africa. Aiming to secure access to the continent's vast natural resources, China is forging deep economic, political and military ties with most of Africa's 54 countries. There's more at stake than just fuel for an economic juggernaut, however, say senior Chinese officials, executives and Western diplomats. In Africa, as in many other parts of the developing world, China is redrawing geopolitical alliances in ways that help propel China's rise as a global superpower. China is courting other countries to support its plan to reassert political authority over Taiwan and seeking a counterweight against U.S. power in global bodies such as the United Nations. It's also thinking long-term, cultivating desperately poor nations to serve as markets for its products decades down the road. For the U.S., China's Africa initiative poses new challenges. Despite a landmark trade pact signed with Africa in 2000, U.S. influence has leveled off in many African countries and in some cases declined. Now, as Washington focuses its attention on the Middle East, it faces a formidable player in a region key to future U.S. economic and security interests. In oil-rich Nigeria, China is rebuilding the railroad network. In Rwanda, Chinese companies have paved more than 80% of the main roads. In more than a dozen African countries, Chinese firms are searching for oil and gas and rebuilding electricity grids and telephone networks. Chinese companies own one of Zambia's largest copper mines and run a major timber operation in Equatorial Guinea. In tiny Lesotho, Chinese businessmen own and operate nearly half of all the supermarkets and a handful of textile companies. Though these interests stretch from massive state-funded projects to small private ventures, they all share a common thread: Beijing's policy of actively encouraging its companies and citizens to set up shop in Africa at a record pace. "China has simply exploded into Africa, as in 'Katie-bar-the-door stuff,' " says Walter Kansteiner, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Adds Rep. Ed Royce, a California Republican and vice chairman of a House subcommittee that deals with Africa: "China's increasing engagement in Africa is a concern and we need to focus on it before Beijing becomes fully established." Last year, Africa supplied more than 15% of U.S. oil imports, and the figure is forecast to rise sharply in the decade ahead. Africa is also becoming a major global supplier for metals, timber and other natural resources. Yet in some of Africa's most promising commodities markets, China is now challenging U.S. and other Western firms for access to these goods. Since 2000, China's trade with Africa has nearly tripled to almost $30 billion. Last year, China spent almost $10 billion on African oil, accounting for nearly one-third of its total crude imports. That's twice as much as it imported from Saudi Arabia, traditionally one of Beijing's biggest suppliers. In oil-rich Angola, where ChevronTexaco Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. have large operations, China has become a major buyer and an increasingly active investor. Unlike the U.S., which bars U.S. companies from doing business with some outlaw regimes, Beijing expresses no qualms about dealing with the continent's most brutal and corrupt leaders. Instead, Chinese leaders prefer to view their relationship through a North-South prism, emphasizing the need for developing nations to band together against the industrialized West. "China is ready to coordinate its positions with African countries...with a view to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries," said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a 2003 speech in Ethiopia. What's more, many Chinese companies operating in Africa are government-owned and less concerned with near-term profits. Indeed, by reaching out to African leaders who are shunned by Western nations, and throwing money at projects Western companies avoid, Chinese officials and businessmen say they are able to secure more business deals and build political influence at a far more rapid pace. Consider Sudan , a war-torn nation set across from Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Red Sea. In 1997, the U.S. passed a law barring U.S. oil companies from investing there, saying Sudanese leaders had engaged in human-rights abuses and sponsored terrorism. In the years that followed, China invested more than $2 billion in Sudan's oil industry. Today, Sudan provides China with nearly 5% of its annual oil imports. Beijing, meantime, has become one of Sudan's largest arms suppliers, according to foreign diplomats and aid workers in the region. China's foreign affairs ministry declined to comment. More recently, the U.S. sought to impose United Nations sanctions on Sudan amid continuing violence in the Darfur region, where pro-government militiamen have raped and murdered civilians while suppressing a rebel uprising. Beijing deflated these sanction efforts by threatening to use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council. Yet far from seeing itself as complicit in Sudanese violence, Beijing sees the oil project as a symbol of China's reliability when others have left. "It's part of our policy of long-term cooperation that helps both sides," says Li Xiaobing, a senior Africa official at China's Ministry of Commerce. A similar dynamic is now playing out in Zimbabwe. Over the past three years, the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and dozens of his closest government officials. In power for 25 years, Mr. Mugabe presides over what is widely regarded as one of Africa's most corrupt and ruthless regimes. Human-rights organizations and Western governments regularly cite his regime for its use of arbitrary arrests, torture and murder to suppress political dissent. By sanctioning Zimbabwe, the U.S. and EU hoped to isolate and ultimately unseat Mr. Mugabe. China, as a matter of policy, has worked to blunt the impact, boosting aid and investment. Last year, it opened direct flights between the two countries. Chinese leaders still afford Mr. Mugabe huge respect. Since 1980, Beijing has invited the president to China seven times, feting him at banquets. Dozens of Chinese leaders, including former Communist part boss Jiang Zemin, have visited him. The close ties are now paying dividends for such companies as China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp., or Catic. A trading company jointly owned by two large Chinese aerospace concerns, Catic between 2003 and 2004 signed a series of contracts valued at $300 million to rebuild Zimbabwe's electricity grid. It has a raft of other deals in the pipeline -- including possible military aircraft sales, company officials say. "We see Zimbabwe as a great opportunity, a great place to make money," says Wang Dawei, the company's vice president. A spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to discuss Mr. Mugabe's human-rights record, saying "China and Zimbabwe have a traditional friendship and a relationship based on cooperation." There is also a softer side to China's pursuit of Africa, one that could help Beijing if regimes that it's closely associated with, such as Sudan and Zimbabwe, are toppled. In 2000, Beijing voluntarily waived $1.2 billion in sovereign African debt and it recently agreed to bring some 10,000 African students to China on scholarships. Across Africa, it has dispatched hundreds of doctors and teachers in recent years. China's ties to Africa date back to the 1950s, when Beijing threw its support behind African independence movements as a way to counter U.S. and Soviet influence in the region. These days, Beijing's emissaries to Africa have swapped their uniforms and weapons for business suits and name cards. In 2000, China established the pro-business China-Africa Cooperation Forum with 44 African nations, paving the way for a free-trade and investment pact with the region. Few countries have felt China's influence as much as Ethiopia. Though China established relations with Ethiopia in 1970, ties were limited until the mid-1990s. That's when Beijing initiated a broader push across Africa in an effort to secure natural resources and political influence on the continent. A decade later, Ethiopia has become a reflection of China's wider ambitions in Africa and the changes it portends for the region. A poor, landlocked nation of 68 million people, Ethiopia lacks the vast natural resources that have drawn China's interest in other countries. But it has something else Beijing craves: geopolitical clout in the region. Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile, the river that slakes Egypt's thirst. It is the meeting ground between largely Muslim north Africa and the Christian south. And it's the seat of the African Union, the political body that represents the continent. Wu Ping, a tall man in his mid-40s, was one of Beijing's pioneers in Africa. In 1993, he was dispatched to Ethiopia by Catic, the state firm rebuilding Zimbabwe's electricity grid. His simple orders: open a trade company and develop political relationships. Mr. Wu began by selling things like milling equipment for sugar cane. Later he branched into tractors. Though he made little money, he forged close relations with Ethiopian officials, partially, he says, by paying the occasional bribe. "Sometimes it's the only way to get things done in Africa," he says. A Catic spokesman in Beijing says the company has a strict internal policy against paying bribes and denies it's a widespread problem. Today, Mr. Wu cruises around Addis Ababa in a Toyota Land Cruiser and presides over a growing business empire. His latest project: an $11 million airport hanger that, when complete later this year, will be able to house the world's largest aircraft. To secure the contract, Mr. Wu beat out an Australian company by deliberately underbidding the contract. Though he will lose money on the deal, he says it's all part of Catic's strategy. "Almost every African leader passes through this airport to attend meetings at the African Union," he says, standing a short distance from dozens of Chinese and African workers working at the construction site. "So they will all see our hangar." Even more important, Mr. Wu says the owner of the hangar, Ethiopia Air, is mulling a large order of propeller aircraft, and the hangar contract has opened the door with officials who will play a role in that decision. "That's my company's real goal in Africa -- to sell airplanes, both commercial and military," he says. Unlike Mr. Wu, Deng Guoping, general manager of China Road and Bridge Corp. in Ethiopia, says he's not sure his company will ever make money here. In the past six years, Mr. Guo has paved five highways stretching more than 300 miles. Three more roads are under construction and he's bidding on another three. In all, Chinese contractors have stitched together a road network that reaches Ethiopia's northern border with Sudan to the eastern seaport of Djibouti to the southern border area with Kenya. China Road secured most of its contracts through public tenders. Yet Mr. Deng says he is instructed to slice projected profit margins so thin -- about 3% -- that losses are inevitable, given perennial cost overruns in Africa. Western businesses, by contrast, typically pad bids with projected profits of 15% and more. Even so, Mr. Deng has his eye on a range of new projects, including water reservoirs, airport facilities and a railway project. "We're a government company and the Chinese government wants us here building things," he says. The U.S. still provides Ethiopia with more assistance than any other nation, nearly $500 million last year. But for U.S. companies, Ethiopia's small market, uncertain legal system and sometimes fast-changing political currents make the country a risky place to do business. One of the only U.S. companies with substantial business in Ethiopia is Boeing Co., which supplies Ethiopia Air with the passenger jets for its international routes. In contrast, Chinese companies say these factors sometimes helps advance Beijing's wider goals. The story of Jiangxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co., another state firm active in Ethiopia, explains how. A few years ago, a flood in Ethiopia left a few hundred people homeless. Not long after, Beijing pledged about $4 million to build them new homes. It hired Jiangxi International as contractor. At a ground breaking ceremony, China's ambassador and Ethiopia officials shook hands and smiled for photographers. About a year later, eight modern apartment buildings, each five floors with pink walls and blue-trim windows, were completed. But the homeless families never moved in. Instead, the complex was handed to Ethiopia's Ministry of Defense, which used them to house its own personnel. Today, a corrugated metal fence rings the complex, with a small group of guards stationed at one corner. "We don't really care who uses it," says a senior executive at Jiangxi International, requesting his name not be used. "It was a political task for us and so long as Ethiopia officials are happy, our goal is fulfilled." A spokesman for Ethiopia's Ministry of Defense said the flood victims didn't like the apartments and were relocated to another neighborhood, and that the Ministry later purchased the apartment block. Lately, Beijing has begun winning projects that have geopolitical relevance, such as Ethiopia's Takazee Dam -- a massive, $300 million hydro-power station that is rising on the headwaters of the Blue Nile River. Set deep in a mountainous region near the border with Sudan and Eritrea, the Takazee Dam has been on Ethiopia's drawing board for over a decade. But getting it off the ground hasn't been easy, thanks to Egypt. Cairo has long feared any project that could affect the flow of the Nile, viewing its own access to those waters as a matter of national security. Indeed, so great was its concern over Takazee that Egyptian officials have made clear that any attempt to divert Nile water could result in military action, according to senior Chinese and Egyptian officials. That warning scared off the World Bank and other international financial organizations, and also raised concern among potential foreign contractors. Several years ago, Ethiopia announced it would finance the project on its own. Though a handful of Western contractors submitted bids, the Ethiopian government awarded the project to Chinese companies. Since then, Egypt has taken a more low-key attitude toward the dam. Chinese engineers say there are no immediate plans to divert the dam's waters for other uses, such as irrigation. Today, the Takazee Dam is inching toward completion. Already, hundreds of Chinese engineers have carved out a vast administrative camp, an underground tunnel nearly a mile long and deep caves that will hold massive power turbines. Later this year, they will begin pouring the 600-foot-high cement dam. Once complete, the Takazee dam will stand as one of Africa's largest, and will help change the lives of those who live in northern Ethiopia, where electricity is often nonexistent. Ultimately, some of the power could be pooled into a regional power grid. That would allow neighboring countries to tap into the power. And it would also further China's ambition of expanding oil and mineral exploration in the region, particularly in southern Sudan . Says Girma Biru, Ethiopia's Minister of Trade: "China has become our most reliable partner and there is a lot we can learn from Beijing, not just in economics but politics as well."

Somalia: The Traffic Which Kills: Radioactive Waste (Nuclear Waste), Toxic Refuse, Weapons, and Laundering of Dirty Money. by Alberto Chiara and Luciano Scalettari (Translated from Italian into English by Dr. Yusuf O. Samatar) The African country was a hostage to the warlords for the last 8 years, and was targeted by the Mafia and is now a crossroad of every illicit affair. This observation was made under the secret service in the shadow of the intelligence services. On November 12, 2003 in Mogadishu, the pilot went pale and said: “Nothing can be done, even if you give me a hundred thousand dollarsâ€, in fact the tip, which we had received in London was a tremendous. Aldo Anghessa, a chartering personage who has been arrested and put on trial several times now collaborates with the Italian Secret Service, added new dimensions and particulars to the project, which is code-named “The Island of the Saltâ€. It is also located at a place which is commonly called the Peninsula of Hafun in the district of Bosaso – uninhabited, the area is predominantly sandy, and is accessible only by sea and is where they selected as a principle site of the project. There is a preliminary document in this regard, which concludes the report. The activities involved are soliciting the creation of the project, selecting the points of observation and requirements for anti-aircraft, heavy guns for eventual controls from a long distance. The only problem at the moment is lack of visibility for all airplanes. Today, parts of mid-Central Somalia and the north of the country are added in the list of deposits. The deposit at the north of Obbia is operative for a year now, says the Pilot. “The place is under surveillance day and night. Foreigners, not the Somalis, guard the area. “Leave it alone, go back to Italyâ€, says the Pilot. Also there is someone in the southern Somalia which is the lower Juba region who attempted to organize a deposit of nuclear material a couple of years ago. “Some foreign firms contacted us in Nairobiâ€, declared Gen. Hersi Morgan, who controls Kismayu. “They wanted a piece of land to install toxic refuse and Radio-active materials in my territory†but I have refused, says General Morgan. The project “Island of Salt†is the tip of the iceberg, of the more disturbing level of a planetary problem as a draining away of a nuclear radio active waste, residues of a dangerous industrial production. The rich countries produce enormous quantities of industrial waste, but only one part treats or respects laws. The system duly equipped to produce these materials, have other economic burdens. To drain out correctly solid urban refuse in Italy today cost 15-450 liras per kilo. To drain dangerous refuses according to the category, it may go from 1000-10,000 liras per kg, explains Massimo Scalia, President of a parliamentary commission of enquiry on the cycle of refuse on the illicit activities connected to it. The organized criminality demonstrated itself. They are always more interested to administer this business which ensures a good income and causes little risk for them from the moment that the violations are committed. According to believable estimates, the illicit traffic of refuse fetches only (in the case of Italy) nearly 6,000,000,000 billion liras, often barrels and cisterns are sent to the foreign countries. The final destinations are selected with accuracy. It has been reported obviously that the countries devastated by civil war are easy targets for these obnoxious activities of depositing nuclear wastes. It is also reported that accessibility to obtain a piece of land can be done in exchange of supply of weapons and adequate financing to the contending parts in their struggle. In 1987, a project was started in Milan and Rome, which was defined as “Urano†involving the burial of great quantities of industrial toxic noxious refuse in three localities within the Sahara desert. Elio Sachetto signed the August 5, 1987 protocol, for the company ‘minera rio de ora’. Lusciano Spada signed on behalf of Instrumag-ag Company, in order to promote “Urano†(In Italy, in Europe, in Africa). Guido Garalli, 54 years, who, according to investigations, works indifferently with documents of Italian identities, Somali or territorial authority of Sahara and loves to present himself as “Gay Souleyman Rinaldi.†In the documents, all stamped “classifiedâ€, done in the full respect of the laws of the countries, and of the norms sanctioned by the international law. Among the materials whose transportation is planned are also anti-parasiteries, galvanic paths or nitric acid and textual, “remains of medicines†as well as refuse with unknown composition. At the end of 1980s, when Siyad Barre regime faced crisis, the attention of those who traffic nuclear waste was focused on Somalia. This nation becomes an appetizing prey for those interested in the affair of depositing nuclear waste as it breaks up in the civil war era. The conversations in the meeting places converge or focus on the possibility of development of the project “URANOâ€. To the already known part, as we remember, draining away of the refuse of toxic industrial noxious wastes (ndr) to the premises of UNIP, witnessed the alarm caused at Hargeisa by the arrival of 31,000 litres of absolute pesticide. The UNIP, following the multiplication of the signals, trusts an investigation on the camp to Mahdi Gedi Qayad, former Professor of Chemistry at the University of Mogadishu and its consultant. The mission begun on May 10th and terminated 8th June 1997 (its job) the final report (UNIP has rejected its long existence. The Christian family has been able to have a copy of the report. It reveals interviews and elements of suspicion. Two episodes are more relevant.....“The death of an intoxicated Somali fisherman, was linked to a content found in a bag at the beach of Brava, the document with a photo and a video of a cistern, 6m long, on the coast between Ige and Mareeg, 300km to the North of Mogadishu. The letter was a confidential and it was signed on June 24, 1992 in Nairobi by Guido Gerali, Edzio Scaglioni, 37-year old Italian, born in Piemonte, Alessandria, who was once an Honorary Consul of Somalia and Gian Karlo Moroccino, a 56-year old Italian, who used to reside in Somalia since 1984. In August and September of the same year Mustapha Tolba, former Secretary-General of UNIP, the UN agency, which is concerned with environmental protection, launched the alarm that “Italian companies are discharging toxic refuse in Somaliaâ€. He also said that he could not mention names as this could put the lives of many people in danger. Thanks to the public demonstrations, clamorous, as it is reliable or authoritative. The business seems to be fading away, Steven Weber of the Swiss Branch of green peace, today reveals, “it is not so, that operation has surely seen three ships full of refuse reach gulf of Edenâ€. On 8th September 1992, a telefax stamped “confidential†was transmitted to Nairobi. One of the 10 witnesses accompanied them in the trip to Somalia. Consent to draft a long list of disposal locations were identified as sites for highly dangerous nuclear waste disposal with every probability in the last ten years. As moved towards South, among the areas suspected to be the sites for the deposits are towns like Jamame, around Kismayu, the vicinity of Merca, the “bog†or the Marshland where Shabelle river ends, the area called kilometer 50 which is between Merca and the capital, Mogadishu. And yet, “the Mogadishu area, (in Aug 96 the interim president Ali Mahdi authorizes with a decree to Ezio Scaglaone to create, a drainage plant of toxic refuse in the locality of Eel-baraf) War-sheik located to the north of the capital. According to Gen. Morgan in 1992, the area was found to be the site where the nuclear refuse was burnt. The coast to the north of Mogadishu is where numerous clandestine deposits could have been excavated. Finally, a series of underground deposits were discovered at Jowhar, along the major road of Garowe, Bossaso, in the desolate highlands between Sanag Region and Bari Region in the Northeast. This has been done in order to conceal the truth or to silence the issue. Also some discharges have been done in the sea, far away from the signals of the fishermen. “Impossible to survey is the 3300km coast of Somaliaâ€, Khalifa Omar Darma of UNIP laments in Nairobi. One of our top objectives for 1998, is proper struggle against the illegal discharge of toxic refuse in the Somali water, by the ships of foreign societies. The effects of prolonged pollution in the territory will manifest itself soon. Strange sicknesses hit mankind and animals. Four years ago, for example, a physician signals at Merca, an excessive number of tumors to the tongue, to the throat, the rectum and a lot of cases of neo natal malformations. The symptoms of the effect of the chemical waste have no comparison. No one then knows what is the end of the UN investigation of the United Nations on the two mysterious explosions heard on 5-7th December 1995 in the regions of Sanag, Berbera and Sool in the Northern Somalia. In the successive days, many people experienced difficult respiratory problems and diarrhea. Some children died in January 1997, on the coast between Mudug and Nugal regions after having drunk the conserved water in drums found on the beach. Some people developed acute pains in the abdomen. They have hemorrhage in the stomach and mouth. Many died, some after being transported to MSF Hospital, analogous episode is verified from the Allenle village (in Galgudud region) in August of this year 2003. Between January – February 1998 in the Lower Shabelle south Somalia) people speak of 10 deaths caused by unspecified fever hemorrhage. Last June a suspected fever hit the area of War-sheik and appeared in Adale village and Run-mirgood. In June 22nd 1998 the Achyan press agency analysis on a study undertaken by an Algerian Khadem Amoudi, according to which the high mortality of Camels in Somalia caused by the discharge of the American Nuclear refuse in the deserts of the Horn of Africa. On June 15th another dispatch of the Libyan News Agency, reports news of a similar epidemic in the Baidoa area, which involves thousands of persons with tenths of victims at Seyid Hellow and Buulo Barako. On the plane, which transported us from Merca on 28th October, to Nairobi, a Doctor named Pirko Heinnonen, of UNICEF told us that, “In a citadel west of Baidoa where she has been to recently†had heard a new epidemic disease of unknown nature, which claimed victims. At least 120 deaths in two months said, Dr. P.H. of UNICEF that the symptoms are high fever, trembling of all body parts, hemorrhage through the nose, the gums, etc. Where does the refuse come from? The offices of the Attorneys of Asti and Torre Annunziata are concluding the laborious investigations on the involvement of the Italian firms, about eventual link up between secret services and magistrates, in collaboration with ex-agents. Also involved are confidantes of “Sismi†on the footsteps of dirty money, for example, the dinars of Libya, under the currency embargo or those of the Kuwaitis robbed from the Iraqis following the invasion of 1990. Good gains and little risks: Alberto Chiara and Lusciano Scalettari The reason for this investigation: Famiglia Cristiana always follows with attention the many mysterious happenings, which are wrapped around Somalia, a country, which in the last two decades was exposed to all kinds of threats. From scandals to tangents of the co-operation of several clandestine groups, to the more diverse illicit commerce from the suspected homicides as that of Bishop of Mogadishu, Mos. Salvatore Colombo, of the journalist Ilaria Alpi and Miran Hrovatin, to the brutal violence committed even by the military contingents of UN-organizations. Only in the course of this year, two inquiries have already been published (on number 8 of March 4th and on number 15 of April). “Try to go 10km to north of the city of Obbia and 5km from the coast. There exists a deposit of refuses, which are highly toxic, probably radioactive to our request to fly over this zone our interlocutor, accepts to accompany us to the northern zones of Somalia, reacts with surprise as the boys draw down their guns. There is a cube in a cemented area of 30m per site of which, inside are heavy items. I know that inside the high cylinders are some bottlesâ€. The deposit to the north of Obbia could be one of those provided by the project. “Island of Saltâ€, studied with the aim of locating and equipped, to isolate and defend the places were to transport nuclear materials, with effect from the 2nd half of the year 1980s, Americans and French have evaluated the feasibility study of the operation, lastly giving the green light. Confided at Rome by a source that requested to remain unanimous. Working on the camp, our envoys have met other colleagues engaged to put light on traffics of weapons and of refuses, as well as on the footsteps of dirty money. It has so far not brought any additional news or any small benefits to the Christian family Barbera Carazzolo, Albert Chaira and Luciano Scalettari together with Francesco Carcano (Italian-Swiss TV), David Demichelis, (freelance journalist), Anderea Di-Stefano, (gruppo Espresso, Republica), Angelo Ferrari, (actually to the agi), Gian Carlo Fortunato, (photo reporter) and Raffaele Masto (Radio populare). Some weeks ago, divided into two groups, some of these people went to Somalia, stopping at Berbera, Bossaso, Buroa, Hargeisa, Mogadishu, Merca and Kismayo. The cistern arrived and the people became sick: A cistern 6m long carroded by the salt water, and a broken barrel surfaced along the coast. The photos belong to Trousseau who attached an image of the cistern to the report of Mahdi Gedi Qayad a consultant of UNIP, the UN agency that engages itself to defend the environment. To verify the existence of illegal discharges of noxious toxic substances, Mahdi Gedi Qayad lecturer of Chemistry, from May 10th to June 8th 1997 has made accurate investigations along the Somali Coast. The above mentioned cistern in particular has been photographed on the beach between Ige-Mereeg, 350km to the north of Mog “many local people said that a similar cistern has been discharged in the sea not far from thereâ€, it can be read in the report. “Some fishermen lamented improvised allergies attributable to a paint and other strange symptoms†Remarks: In this document, there are some enigmatic questions that any one who reads it may pose to ask. These questions are: 1. The developed countries which offered to finance the Somali National Reconciliation Conference in Kenya with no mandate to be either the mediators or the decision-makers, are putting “the cart in front of the horseâ€, and are making blackmail. 2. Egypt, Libya and some of the Arab countries are supporting blindly those who do not want the rule of law and governance to take effect in Somalia, and who are profiteers of the anarchy, civil war and are afraid of being taken to international court, as a result of their violation of human rights. There is also the Nile water problem between Ethiopia and Egypt, which Somalia has no right to meddle. 3. In view of the above-mentioned realities, one asks him/herself whether the so-called developed countries (IPF) have the intention of re-colonizing Somalia and the rest of the 3rd world, or keep this country as a hostage until the process of dumping toxic nuclear wastes or refuse is completed, rendering the country as a spot of death of both animals and human beings or the Eco-system. 4. Is it a rivalry between the two giants, EU and the US, where the Somali people are the first pawns, which are being played upon? 5. Or is it a game being played by NGOs using greedy and unpatriotic Somali individuals to derail the peace process for their own selfish interests? 6. It is a stated common factor that Somali groups and the international Mafia were means of brokerage for the burial of toxic materials and nuclear waste in Somalia. 7. As we know the Somali National Reconciliation Conference in Kenya has been going on for the last one-year and several months, while it could take a maximum of 4 months only. The pace of the conference was continuously hindered or sabotaged by both the profiteers of the present situation in Somalia, and some members of the international community. Or it is true as has been mentioned by different personalities that the facilitators are not sincerely interested partly or generally to the restoration of a Somali State. 8. The same people of the developed world have created the evil, aids and spread that this evil came from Africa. The majority of such evil people to deviate the world public opinion sustain that it is as a result of copulation between human beings and beasts. At least in our world no one had ever heard similar love affairs between animals and human beings, but it may be a privilege prerogative, which is particular for the non-colonized civilized people. 9. Everybody can easily understand that it is a result of experiment that could not at least be stopped since this time. No one can predict beside the extermination of the population of the countries that are victims of that toxic and nuclear waste, what will be in the future, the destiny of the humanity as a consequence of this poisoning noxious waste. 10. Already a good number of scholars are taking legal actions against slavery and colonization and we don’t know what steps will be taken in the coming times, against the spreading of aids and nuclear and other chemical wastes. Time will tell us if those who are claiming to be civilized are really civilized and worse salvages that the nature has delivered. 11. In the pages of history, of course not in the remote past are full of the horrors, which took place at Nagasaki and Hiroshima where humanity has suffered real distraction killing hundreds of thousands and leaving others deeply traumatized. This document was extracted from Rajocyber.com on 11/12/2003 Translated from Italian into English by Dr. Yusuf O. Samatar Souce: http://ababshe.com/Environment.htm

So, sad such a serious mater is going astry. And what saddened me the most is, those very people, the ignorant,dummies and stupiiiide warlords who allowed such a dengerious radioactive weste to be dumped right in there back yard, are now our so call leaders!!! :mad: how cheap you can get than that? Let me stop my calacal and move on..What can we do here? I guess we can send our grievance to IAEA. http://www.iaea.org/About/index.html For the warlords > CIRIDKU IDIN BARAR ILAAHAY IDANKII, OO CANDHADA DAB SAARA, FURUQ SODOHDIIN DIL :mad:

hello Nomads! While i was chit chating with good friend of mine at a coffee shop aka dabo daalis this morning he told me a strange story. After all living in a most liberal city where you will hear and see all kind of strange stuff. He went to his long time personal doctor for an annaul pysical check-up and his doctor told the he has been a transvastite for quite sometimes and finally he decided soon he will go under surgery to officially become a female. And your bachelor goes :eek: Aaggah!!!!female aa!!!!war wuxu ileen gaal buu aha!. What would you do if your favorite physcian you have trusted the most, who made a servral successful surgery on you changes his sex? would you keep him? get rid of him?

Interesting story...from NPR..plz listen to it if you have time. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4542221

How embarrassing! EMBARASSING IYO NUS Bunch of morons made somali a loughing stock... WHAT A SHAME!!!! :mad: :mad:

Any MP who attempt to derail the efforts of IGAD peaceforce will face and be brought against dire criminal charges. Caamer, honestly most if not all including the president A/Y should be brought to justice. We all know most of them are bloody warlords. Our lives don't depend on these bloodsucking warlords. These blood sucking are regareded as leader now wheather you like it or not.

The five questions are: 1 - "What are you thinking?" 2 - "Do you love me?" 3 - "Do I look fat?" 4 - "Do you think she is prettier than me?" 5 - "What would you do if I died?" What makes these questions so bad is that every one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument and/or divorce if the man does not answer properly, which is to say dishonestly. For example: 1 - "What are you thinking?" The proper answer to this question, of course, is, "I'm sorry if I've been pensive, dear. I was just reflecting on what a warm, wonderful, caring, thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful woman you are and what a lucky guy I am to have met you." Obviously, this statement bears no resemblance whatsoever to what the guy was really thinking at the time, which was most likely one of five things: a - Hunging out with friends b - Football c - How fat you are. d - How much prettier she is than you. e - How he would spend the insurance money if you died. According to a Sassy Magazine article, the best answer to this question came from Al Bundy, of Married With Children, who was asked it by his wife, Peg. "If I wanted you to know," Al said, "I'd be talking instead of thinking." The other questions also have only one right answer but many wrong answers: 2 - "Do you love me?" The correct answer to this question is, "Yes." For those guys who feel the need to be more elaborate, you may answer, "Yes, dear. Wrong answers include: a - I suppose so. b - Would it make you feel better if I said yes. c - That depends on what you mean by "love". d - Does it matter? e - Who, me? 3 - "Do I look fat?" The correct male response to this question is to confidently and emphatically state, "No, of course not" and then quickly leave the room. Wrong answers include: a - I wouldn't call you fat, but I wouldn't call you thin either. b - Compared to what? c - A little extra weight looks good on you. d - I've seen fatter. e - Could you repeat the question? I was thinking about your insurance policy. 4 - "Do you think she's prettier than me?" The "she" in the question could be an ex-girlfriend, a passer-by you were staring at so hard thay you almost cause a traffic accident or an actress in a movie you just saw. In any case, the correct response is, "No, you are much prettier." Wrong answers include: a - Not prettier, just pretty in a different way. b - I don't know how one goes about rating such things. c - Yes, but I bet you have a better personality. d - Only in the sense that she's younger and thinner. e - Could you repeat the question? I was thinking about your insurance policy. 5 - "What would you do if I died?" Correct answer: "Dearest love, in the event of your untimely demise, life would cease to have meaning for me and I would perforce hurl myself under the front tires of the first Domino's Pizza truck that came my way." This might be the stupidest question of the lot, as is illustrated by the following joke: "Dear," said the wife. "What would you do if I died?" "Why, dear, I would be extremely upset," said the husband. "Why do you ask such a question?" "Would you remarry?" persevered the wife. "No, of course not, dear" said the husband. "Don't you like being married?" said the wife. "Of course I do, dear" he said. "Then why wouldn't you remarry?" "All right," said the husband, "I'd remarry." "You would?" said the wife, looking vaguely hurt. "Yes" said the husband. "Would you sleep with her in our bed?" said the wife after a long pause. "Well, yes, I suppose I would." replied the husband. "I see," said the wife indignantly. "And would you let her wear my old clothes?" "I suppose, if she wanted to" said the husband. "Really," said the wife icily. "And would you take down the pictures of me and replace them with pictures of her?" "Yes. I think that would be the correct thing to do." "Is that so?" said the wife, leaping to her feet. "And I suppose you'd let her play with my golf clubs, too." "Of course not, dear," said the husband. "She's left-handed."

I dont know if you can read this but it has a picture... http://www.ahram.org.eg/Index.asp?CurFN=fron1.htm&DID=8426

Lets hope this time things will work out stable and united goverment will be emerge INSHA ALLAH . However, if those untrustworthy, selfsh, narrowly ignorant and not to mention moron warlord did not behave, which i doubt they will, forming a viable goverment then would be out of reach or nothing but a dream. Thus, things ought to change for good. Those who want to move forward by seceeding should allowed to do so.

6. San Francisco, CA A+ and 14. San Jose, CA B+ Live and work in both place...not bad at all.

Nomads what is going on in here? In a historic first, a woman will lead the traditional Friday Islamic prayers for men and women at a New York City art gallery next week. Read more http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-nyisla104170606mar10,0,7421771.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines

I listened the speech as entirety. To much boasting and I gave him D+

Why is it Ethiopia (Woyane) so anxious to offer "militery" assistance as a peace keeper after all this years meddling and inflame the civil war -- by arming those butcher warlords? We all must be aware of one thing, Ethiopians are not upto good when it comes to long term somali stability. Majority of ppl have sent a clear message to the world and uncle C/Y if he is listening that they will not support an AU force especially one with TPLF(woyane) on the ingredient list.The relationship is not friendly. If anything it is opposite of that.

OUCH!! look this fool... http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050208/80/fbzpn.html

10 TRUTHS BLACK AND HISPANIC PEOPLE KNOW, BUT WHITE PEOPLE WON'T ADMIT: 1. Elvis is dead. 2. Jesus was not White. 3. Rap music is here to stay 4. Kissing your pet is not cute or clean. 5. Skinny does not equal sexy. 6. Thomas Jefferson had black children. 7. A 5 year child is too big for a stroller. 8. N' SYNC will never hold a candle to the Jackson 5 9. An occasional BUTT whooping helps a child stay in line. 10. Having your children curse you out in public is not normal. 10 TRUTHS WHITE AND BLACK PEOPLE KNOW, BUT HISPANIC PEOPLE WON'T ADMIT: 1. Hickey's are not attractive. 2. Chicken is food, not a roommate. 3. Jesus is not a name for your son. 4. Your country's flag is not a car decoration. 5. Maria is a name but not for every other daughter. 6. "Jump out and run" is not in any insurance policies. 7. 10 people to a car is considered too many. 8. Buttoning just the top button of your shirt is a bad fashion statement. 9. Mami and Papi can't possibly be the nickname of every person in your family. 10.Letting your children run wildly through the store is not normal. 10 TRUTHS WHITE AND HISPANIC PEOPLE KNOW, BUT BLACK PEOPLE WON'T ADMIT: 1. O. J. did it. 2. Tupac is dead. 3. Teeth should not be decorated. 4. Weddings should start on time. 5. Your pastor doesn't know everything. 6. Jesse Jackson will never be President. 7. RED is not a kool-aid flavor, it's a color. 8. Church does not require expensive clothes. 9. Crown Royal bags are meant to be thrown away. 10.Your rims and sound system should not be worth more than your car.

As far as i am concern, honestly, the deal is not fair. Nile means for Egyptian more than a life line they simple can not serviv a single day without it, they have got nothing to live for once the Ethiopia build a dam, i totally understand thier grief, and i wont be surprise if Egypt bombard Addis for that. Also, for Ethiopians it means much needed but unused natural resouce. What is pathatic is though, Woyanee failed to utilize nor encourage people of somaligalebeed to benefit from wabi shebeele that is flowing freely unused while the people are enduring lack of water. Ethiopia must take care of small things first then before they shed crocodile tears.

January 10, 2005 -- AS if North Ko rean and Ira nian nuclear weapons programs weren't enough, now it seems Egypt may be pursuing the bomb as well. The evidence isn't conclusive yet. But according to an initial International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) statement last week, several Egyptian scientists conducted unreported nuclear experiments over the past 30 years. That's reason for concern. Egypt, a signatory to the United Nations' nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), had promised to swear off nuclear weapons. And, like all treaty members, Cairo is required to supply the IAEA with a written declaration of past nuclear work. Well, it turns out that Egypt forgot to mention some nuclear activities in its 1982 declaration. And it failed to inform the IAEA about some new work since then, too. Egypt denies violating the treaty, but the IAEA is analyzing environmental samplings from nuclear facilities near Cairo, looking for evidence of uranium enrichment or plutonium extraction. Discovery of an Egyptian nuclear program would rattle Middle East peace and stability, further pull the rug out from under teetering U.N. nonproliferation treaties and possibly crumble Egypt's relatively strong relationship with the U.S. * Nonproliferation: While some pooh-pooh the idea of an Egyptian nuclear program, it really isn't that far-fetched. Pakistan's rogue nuclear scientist, A.Q. Khan, is said to have been in contact with Egypt, and Cairo has had a long-standing ballistic missile relationship with nuclear-capable North Korea. Also, during a Sino-Egyptian summit two years ago, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement with China. That same year, press reports indicated that China (also nuclear-capable) was helping Egypt mine uranium in the Sinai desert. Catching another country with its hand in the nuclear cookie-jar will implode the NPT, and put couscous on the face of Mohammed El Baradei, the courtly Egyptian who is seeking an unprecedented (U.S.-opposed) third term as head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency * Middle East: Discovery of an Egyptian nuclear program would certainly alarm Israel, which has its own nuclear deterrent. But it would really set off alarm bells for Egypt's other neighbors — Libya and Saudi Arabia. (Libya is in the process of dismantling its nuclear weapons program, while Saudi Arabia is rumored to be building one.) Conventional wisdom says that the Egyptian program is aimed at Israel. But the smart money says Cairo may be as concerned about balancing Iran's nuclear weapons program as that of its immediate neighbors — or Israel. Sunni-Arab Egypt has always been antsy about Shi'a-Persian Iran's attempts to export its 1979 fundamentalist revolution. In any case, news of loose neutrons on the Nile will cause insomnia in Jerusalem, Tripoli, Tehran, Riyadh — and Washington. * American Interests: Cairo and Washington have been partners for some time, including in the important Middle East peace process. The U.S. gives Egypt $2 billion in aid annually ($1.3 in military aid) to keep the peace with Israel under the 1978 Camp David Accords. All told, Washington has provided over $25 billion in economic and development assistance to Egypt since 1975. In the past, Egypt was a hotbed for Islamic extremism, and Cairo remains an important ally in the War on Terror. Egypt is also critical to the transit of American ships through the Suez Canal. It would be quite a dilemma for the U.S., should it turn out that Egypt is indeed pursuing nukes. Could Washington continue aid if it appears that Cairo has nuclear ambitions? And what effect would aid cutoff have on Egypt's role in Middle Eastern peace and fighting terrorism? (The U.S. Congress likely will have very strong views on this.) It's certainly possible that the IAEA's Egyptian discovery is nothing more than the unsanctioned work of some rogue Egyptian Dr. No. This appears to be the case in recent dust-ups over nuclear activities in South Korea. Whatever the case, Washington must deal with Cairo carefully. Remember, Pakistan's pursuit of nukes — and its subsequent isolation — ruined our post-Cold War relationship with the South Asian Muslim giant for years. And what was the result of our 1990s policies of isolating Pakistan? The first Muslim nuclear weapons state, and A.Q. Khan's proliferation of nuclear knowledge to North Korea, Iran, Libya — and maybe even Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In addition, Pakistan's pariah status brought Islamabad's support for the Taliban's rise in Afghanistan, and the festering of international terrorism, culminating in the horrors of 9/11. Preventing nuclear proliferation is tough business. Let's hope we do better with Egypt. Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow. Email: peterbrookes@heritage.org SOURCE: www.nypost.com/postopinio.../38184.htm

Is this going to hurt CY and MZ's relationship? What about CY and his prime minster? Somali MPs accuse Ethiopia of meddling Thursday December 30th, 2004 01:16. NAIROBI, Dec 28, 2004 (The People) -- The Ethiopian government has been accused of meddling in the affairs of the emerging new Somali state. political leaders now want the international community to put trade embargoes against the former socialist state for allegedly poking its nose into the affairs of a sovereign state. "If the international community is hosted about its quest for peace and stability in Somali then Ethiopia must be condemned for its incessant destabilizing behaviour," they said. Former member of parliament Farah Maalim and a host of Somali leaders claimed that Ethiopia was behind the arms being used by warlords. "Ethiopia must be restrained with appropriate sanctions from interfering in the affairs of this new state." Maalim further alleged that Ethiopian intelligence officers led by one Yemane have been sneaking into the country to derail efforts by the new Somali government. The Somali MPs led by Abdirrazaq Muhammad Umar now want the internal security minister, Dr Chris Murungaru, to state Kenya's stand on this issue. Ethiopia has been at loggerheads with previous Somali administrations over border issues, with the latter accusing the former of sponsoring dissent groups. A spokesman of President Abdullahi Ahmad Yusuf, however, declined to comment on the matter but said his boss was following it with utmost concern. Said he: "That is a serious matter and we need to employ diplomacy when addressing it, but in reality the president is well aware of the claims." A source close to the Somali president, however, disclosed that the newly-appointed premier, Prof Ali Muhammad Gedi, would convene a press conference this week aimed at addressing the issue. http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=7263

man was dying of Cancer. His son asked him, " Dad, why do u keep telling people u're dying of AIDS? Father replied: " So when I'm dead no one will dare touch your mom!" ******************************************* Three Feelings: What's the difference between stress, tension and panic? Stress is when wife is pregnant, Tension is when girlfriend is pregnant,and Panic is when both are pregnant. ******************************************** If Adam and Eve were Chinese: If Adam and Eve were Chinese, we would still be in paradise because they would have ignored the apple and eaten the snake!

Caveman easy on Bachelor sxb, I am not the one who wrote this nor have a guts to call Ethiopians my first and foremost enemy that are oppressing my people "OUR BROTHER" . I just came across this poor article and decided to share it with good nomads of SOL.

Since we proclaimed the rebirth of our country as an independent State in May 1991 at Buroa 13 years ago, Somaliland has achieved a great deal by way of putting in place its own Constitution, established democratic institutions, its own currency with out external provisions and so on. Yet, the international community still reluctant to recognize Somaliland although it has fulfilled all the requirements for Statehood. Namely: Article (1) of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, singed on 26December, 1933, provides that the State should possess the following qualifications: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into a relation with the other states. There is no doubt that Somaliland possesses all the qualifications for statehood. It has security, commercial, and diplomatic agreements with her neighbour Ethiopia. Similarly, its has similar links though to a small degree with the Republic of Djibouti. Interestingly enough, its people occupy the territory of the former British Protectorate. We are worried about Somaliland’s statehood as being ignored for too long, because terrorism take root and grow when people don’t have the means to control their own government. Today’s terrorism in the world has been linked not only with religious or ethnic extremism, but also with problems of poor governance, inter-state conflicts, suppression of freedoms and human rights as well as criminality etc. On several occasions, the United Nations warned that Somalia was becoming a heaven for terrorists and for the smuggling of weapons including surface - to - air missiles. In addition to, the assistance of Islamic Fundamentalist Groups, strongly influenced by Egypt and Saudi Arab’s hard - line Wahabisim. Really, all these things happened as the result of, recent killings of innocent humanitarian aid workers in Somaliland were organized in Mogadishu. So if a State like Somaliland is ignored for too long, the insecurity in Somalia could spread into Somaliland and in fact this will undermine the stability of the whole region , particularly neighboring countries like Ethiopia and Djibouti. Today Egypt wants the African Union and Arab League not to recognize Somaliland’s Statehood and let Eritrea to remain hostile with their brothers in Ethiopia. However the African Union and the Arab league can’t overlook the fact that Somaliland has a strong case to back its independence since the Statehood of Somaliland does not contravene the charter of the newly-formed organization of Africa AU, particularly the inviolability of colonial borders. Somaliland has the right of backing of the former African Organization OAU Cairo Resolution of 1964, which has ratified the sanctity of inherited colonial boundaries in Africa. Definitely, the weaknesses of the former African Organization OAU permit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and probably Libya to commit impoverishing and destabilization programmes against the states of the region particularly Somaliland and Ethiopia. Both Somaliland’s political livestock exports ban and Eritrea‘s hosting and training camps for several opposition groups such as ONLF, OLF are typical examples of impoverishing and destabilization programs in the region. So that if the newly formed organization of Africa AU is realistic their mandate they should have to find a political solution this violence. Many Somalilanders including me can’t understand why Arab league particularly Egypt, Saudi Arabi and probably Libya ignores Somaliland’s right to exist. Are they saying the recognition issue of Somaliland may undermine or affect the newly formed Southern - Somali State in Kenya? I would argue that the opposite is true. The sooner Somaliland is recognized the better chance to restore peace, law and order in the South. Truly the Arab league is running to find what they called a counter-balance of Ethiopia in the region in order to arm against us our brother Ethiopia again and destabilize the Horn of Africa. Equally significant is that the Arab league is not so happy the bilateral relations we have to day our brothers Ethiopia as well as the use of Ethiopia our port Barbra. So that it is clear the Arab league is firmly, politically, and emotionally committed to the survival of the unity of Somalia. Let me say my words. Our children’s children will look back through their history books with admiration and thanks for the Ethiopian people. In fact, an Ethiopia in danger is our danger. Any person, state, organization that fights against Ethiopia will never have our support. We shall give whatever help we can to our brothers Ethiopia as they did for us. On the other hand, unstable Ethiopia is not good for Somaliland, Djibouti, Kenya and even the stability o f the whole region; Ethiopia is the heart land of the Horn of Africa. Finally, we Somalilanders know our goal and we are determined to reach it. The independence of our country is nonnegotiable. http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=796&p=opinion&a=3

oda made a good point this is merely to please the oromo since the somali's are in no position to posse any threat and they are divided in fractions. The Tigre regime will do anything to prolong the life of thier adminstration. Thier game is simple "divid and rule" by means of ethnicity. A system unfairly based on ethinic groups is sooner or later to be a source of conflict and that is main intention of Tigre. For instance, the somali village in Northern Jigjiga is being turned over to the Oromo State because EPRDF wants start conflict so they can stay in power for long time. One thing is for sure the ONLF & OLF are the two sole threat coming from the Oromos and Somalis, against the Woyane regime. It is about survival of the regime. A policy of superficial appeasement. This move by the TPLF will most likely not appease the Oromo, but rather it is an insult to our integrity of (somali wherever they are) to be asked to give thier land unjust, in fact, when we are oppressed on top, lands that ARE ours, are being taken. Very sad these days to be somali really :mad:

oda made a good point this is merely to please the oromo since the somali's are in no position to posse any threat and they are divided in fractions. The Tigre regime will do anything to prolong the life of thier adminstration. Thier game is simple "divid and rule" by means of ethnicity. A system unfairly based on ethinic groups is sooner or later to be a source of conflict and that is main intention of Tigre. For instance, the somali village in Northern Jigjiga is being turned over to the Oromo State because EPRDF wants start conflict so they can stay in power for long time. One thing is for sure the ONLF & OLF are the two sole threat coming from the Oromos and Somalis, against the Woyane regime. It is about survival of the regime. A policy of superficial appeasement. This move by the TPLF will most likely not appease the Oromo, but rather it is an insult to our integrity of (somali wherever they are) to be asked to give thier land unjust, in fact, when we are oppressed on top, lands that ARE ours, are being taken. Very sad these days to be somali really :mad:

oda made a good point this is merely to please the oromo since the somali's are in no position to posse any threat and they are divided in fractions. The Tigre regime will do anything to prolong the life of thier adminstration. Thier game is simple "divid and rule" by means of ethnicity. A system unfairly based on ethinic groups is sooner or later to be a source of conflict and that is main intention of Tigre. For instance, the somali village in Northern Jigjiga is being turned over to the Oromo State because EPRDF wants start conflict so they can stay in power for long time. One thing is for sure the ONLF & OLF are the two sole threat coming from the Oromos and Somalis, against the Woyane regime. It is about survival of the regime. A policy of superficial appeasement. This move by the TPLF will most likely not appease the Oromo, but rather it is an insult to our integrity of (somali wherever they are) to be asked to give thier land unjust, in fact, when we are oppressed on top, lands that ARE ours, are being taken. Very sad these days to be somali really :mad: